Newmark Knight Frank hires three from Colliers

Newmark Knight Frank has expanded the industrial real estate representation arm of its Minneapolis office by luring three industrial specialists formerly with the Twin Cities office of Colliers International.

The brokerage recently hired industrial specialists Dan Friedner and Jay Chmieleski as managing directors, and Patrick Cullen as an associate. The Minneapolis Newmark Knight Frank office has recruited 16 local brokers since opening in April 2017, according to a press release. The brokerage is operated by the New York City-based Newmark Group.

Before opening the office, Newmark Knight Frank represented clients in the Twin Cities from offices outside the state, said Kevin McCabe, the central region market leader for the brokerage. The first two hires for the office were the leaders: Jim Damiani, formerly of Colliers, and John McCarthy, formerly of Cushman & Wakefield.

Patrick Cullen

“They were the two senior brokers that allowed us to plant our flag there,” McCabe said Tuesday.

The Minneapolis office previously had one industrial specialist, Brian Netz. Netz was also recruited from Colliers, McCabe said.

Friedner and Chmieleski are 19-year commercial real estate veterans. They led a six-person team at Colliers specializing in the purchase, sale and leasing of industrial, office, land and investment properties. They completed $225 million in transactions during the last five years, according to the release.

The Minneapolis office is still recruiting. Newmark Knight Frank plans to add multifamily, investment sale and capital markets representation to the office in the near future.

“We’re far from finished,” McCabe said of the recruitment efforts.

Jay Chmieleski

Other Minneapolis commercial real estate offices have also done some recruiting of late. The local office of Chicago-based JLL Capital Markets in June hired four real estate brokers and three support professionals who were part of Marcus & Millichap’s Minneapolis multifamily team.

Newmark has more than 4,600 employees in more than 120 offices, according to the release.